Canada SIM Card: Prepaid SIMs or an eSIM?

Data can also be ready before you board: add a HelloRoam eSIM for Canada at home over Wi-Fi, and it picks up Rogers, the network chatr also runs on, when you land. Maps and messages then work on the walk through the terminal.

Three prepaid brands sell SIMs and eSIMs to visitors

chatr, Lucky Mobile and Koodo Prepaid each explain on their own sites how a visitor signs up. The table sets out what those pages said when we read them on 23 October 2026.

Get your Canada eSIM before you flyInstall it at home, then switch on data roaming for it when you land. From £2.60.See Canada plans

chatr's two Pearson counters open daily from 6am in Terminal 1 and from 9am in Terminal 3, and both close at midnight. Its Montréal-Trudeau counter sits on the arrivals level after customs, next to Customer Service, from 6am to midnight. chatr's tourist page names no counter at Vancouver or Calgary airports, though it lists stores in both cities, and its eSIM can be set up before you fly.

Koodo's online checkout lists only cards with a Canadian address and a Canadian bank, so a UK card does not qualify, though Koodo also takes its own top-up vouchers. Older guides still send visitors to Fido Prepaid, but since 20 February 2025 Fido sends its prepaid customers to chatr.

A 4 to 5 GB plan costs CA$25 at all three brands

Each brand shows its plans by province, so the table names the province each page showed. Every plan below includes unlimited Canada-wide calling, and prices are in Canadian dollars.

The bonus data depends on a card that is charged each month before the plan renews, so cancel the automatic payment before you fly home. Lucky Mobile adds taxes on top of its prices, does not roll unused data over and does not refund prepaid funds. Once the plan's data is used up, Lucky slows the connection to up to 128 Kbps rather than charging for more.

A Canadian plan runs for a month even if you stay ten days, so a short trip pays for days it never uses. Before you pick a size, work out your trip's data needs from the apps you plan to use.

A Canadian SIM needs an unlocked UK phone

chatr says a phone works on its service if it is unlocked and supports its LTE bands. Those are 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 1900 MHz, 1700/2100 MHz (AWS) and 2600 MHz. Ofcom, the UK regulator, has banned mobile companies from selling locked handsets since 17 December 2021.

A phone bought from a UK network before that date may still be locked, so ask your provider to unlock it before you travel. For any of the eSIM options, also check your phone works with eSIM before you pay.

A Canadian line and your UK number can share one phone

Apple's Dual SIM guide lists adding a local data plan when you travel as one of its uses. It needs an iPhone XS, XS Max, XR or later, and if the two plans come from different networks, your UK provider must unlock the iPhone. Both numbers can send and receive texts, and only one at a time uses mobile data. The Canadian line can then carry your data while a bank's security code still reaches your UK number.

A Canadian SIM also gives you a local number. chatr's plans include unlimited Canada-wide talk and unlimited Canada, US and international texts, which helps when a hotel or tour operator wants a number to call. Our eSIM plans are data only, so if you need a Canadian number, a local SIM is the better fit. If you are still weighing up an eSIM or physical SIM, our comparison sets out the trade-offs.

O2 includes Canada on some plans and charges £7 a day on others

Keeping your UK plan means no new SIM at all. Some O2 customers already have Canada covered. O2 Travel in its Inclusive Zone comes free with selected Plus Plans and gives unlimited minutes, texts and data in Canada and the US. Check your Bolt Ons in My O2 before you fly. Without it, O2's Travel Bolt On costs £7 for each day you use your phone in Canada, with unlimited minutes, texts and data, and data speeds capped at 2Mbps. The 24 hours start when you make a call, send a text or use data, and receiving a call or text does not start them. It is for Pay Monthly customers, who add it by texting TRAVEL to 23336 or in My O2. On Pay As You Go, O2's standard roaming rates apply.

Other UK networks set their own prices for Canada, so check your provider's roaming page before you fly. For two or three days spent mostly on hotel Wi-Fi, paying only for the days you use can make more sense than a month-long Canadian plan.

Canada and the US can share one plan

Crossing into the US changes the choice. Koodo Prepaid needs its U.S. Roaming data Booster add-on before it uses data outside Canada. O2's Travel Bolt On covers the US as well as Canada. Our North America eSIM plan covers Canada, the US and Mexico, connecting to Rogers in Canada and to Verizon or AT&T in the US.

No SIM gets a signal on most of the Icefields Parkway

The Icefields Parkway runs 232 km from Lake Louise to the Jasper townsite. Parks Canada says there is no year-round mobile coverage on it, and from May to early October there is limited coverage only at the Columbia Icefield. That holds whichever SIM or eSIM you use.

Save your route, hotel bookings and offline maps before you leave Lake Louise or Jasper, the same places where Parks Canada tells drivers to fuel up.

A Canadian SIM, your UK plan or an eSIM each fits a different trip

HelloRoam sells travel eSIMs, so the last two rows describe our own products. You can read our conflict-of-interest rules in the editorial policy.

Our Canada plans carry data only and run on Rogers

HelloRoam's Canada plans connect to Rogers Wireless, the network chatr also uses. They carry data only, so calls and texts stay on your UK number. Install the eSIM at home over Wi-Fi with our eSIM install guide, then select the new line in Settings and switch Data Roaming on for it. It joins the local network when you land, and if it does not connect, our support team answers 24/7.